EffiComfort: External Expert Perspective

EffiComfort project partners, aiming to establish healthier indoor environments in buildings across Ljubljana, hosted Javier Leiva, an Innovation Expert of the European Urban Initiative (EUI), in Ljubljana on 12 and 13 January 2026. The meetings with the partnership enabled him to gain a comprehensive overview of the project and identify key areas where his international experience and expert advice can contribute to the its successful development.

As an innovation expert in the field of energy, Javier Leiva will accompany the EffiComfort project with an external and independent perspective in the interest of the EUI programme. He will be available to the project partners for expert consultations throughout the entire project duration. Over the course of four years, the project will bring together a wide range of stakeholders – from pupils and teachers to energy professionals and companies – to jointly develop a new model of energy efficiency. Through the innovative “Healthy Comfort” service, the model places user well-being at its core, while remaining attractive to energy service providers and making a meaningful contribution to Ljubljana’s transition towards climate neutrality. As a best-practice example, the model will also be transferable to other cities.

Javier joined the teams of City of Ljubljana and the Public Housing Fund of the City of Ljubljana for visits to the pilot locations – two primary schools and a multi-apartment residential building. These buildings will be equipped with indoor environmental quality monitoring systems, while the staff, the pupils and the tenants will be actively involved in participatory activities to assess their wellbeing. The programme continued with a visit to the Institute for Innovation and Development of University of Ljubljana, where Javier gained insight into the project’s technical and research components, and concluded with a meeting with Klemen Strmšnik, EUI Transfer Expert.

At the heart of the EffiComfort project lies the integration of technical solutions with a high-quality user experience. In this context, Javier Leiva visited project partner IPoP – Institute for Spatial Policies, where discussions focused on participatory and co-creation approache. The visit continued at the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region, discussing the dissemination activities aimed at effectively transferring key messages and knowledge to other municipalities and stakeholders, innovative public engagement methods, and the potential for capitalizing on project results.

Javier Leiva will return to Ljubljana in the summer, when the partners will jointly review the project’s further development and its first results. EffiComfort seeks to transform the way we experience indoor environments – spaces in which we spend most of our time and which may influence our health, well-being and quality of life – by offering people an energy service that enables informed choices for healthier indoor conditions.

The EffiComfort project is supported by the European Urban Initiative (EUI) and co-funded by the European Union.